Sunshine
by jd4941
Summary: AU. This will be a very dark story but there will be hope and healing before the end. It is loosely based on Room. It will explore depression, how far one would go for love, the triumph of the human spirit through the darkest hour, and healing. TW's inside.
1. Chapter 1

****I do not own OUaT nor any of the characters.****

 **TW: rape and kidnapping**

Regina growled yet laughed as she pried her lips away from her boyfriend's.

"Hey," Daniel reached out cupping the back of her neck. "Come back here," he tried to pull her back in to him.

Regina allowed one last peck before putting her hands on his shoulders and pushing him away, "Babe we have to go." She started giggling as Daniel began to attack her neck with his lips. "They're singing the birthday song," she held up a finger in warning.

In the background, they could hear the band playing and the crowd singing Feliz Cumpleanos a Ti to her sister.

Daniel pulled back from her with a frown. He squeezed his eyes shut and blew out a breath. He grabbed her hand and interlaced their fingers, "come on then. Let's get this over with."

Regina laughed at the annoyed look across his face. Daniel was normally an extremely laid back guy. And even though Zelena wasn't exactly a favorite of either of theirs, she was still her older sister. And this birthday was a big one.

Her parents had rented out a local dance club to host a party for Zelena's sweet 16. She'd had a **_Quinceañera_** the year before but she'd sworn that she deserved another over the top bash that cost more than their wedding since it was tradition.

Even as a baby she'd had a tendency for dramatics and had gone on an entire campaign screeching about how she never got anything for weeks. She'd driven the entire family up the wall before their parents finally caved.

Papi had promised that soon it was her turn. But her 15th birthday was still more than 9 months away. For a teenager, that felt like a lifetime.

In the meantime, she had to put on a happy face and cheer for her spoiled older sister. She threw her arms around his neck and raised herself up on her tiptoes to deliver another longer kiss. She poured all of the love that she felt for him into this one before pulling away, "I promise after this. It will be just the two of us."

Daniel smiled and nodded in that way that made her knees go weak as his gorgeous blue eyes twinkled at her, "I'm going to hold you to that one."

She waggled her eyebrows, "Promise?"

He gave her a mock glare, "Vixen."

She laughed in response as they moved out from their hiding spot. They'd managed to find an unoccupied unlit corner in the VIP section of the club so that they could spend time away from the distractions of the party. Reluctantly, they began to make their way over to the stage area where Zelena preened and everyone, including their parents, gathered around her singing to her. As they drew nearer the stage Regina stopped, "damn it!"

Daniel looked at her surprised since she seldom used swears, "what?"

Regina pointed to the area just behind her sister where a table overflowing with gifts sat, "I forgot her present." She rolled her eyes in annoyance. She drew in a breath, "I'll have to run out to the car to get it," she pulled her hand away from Daniel's and started to head toward the door.

"Wait, I'll come with you!" he yelled after her and made to follow her.

She was already in the midst of a half jog and had already reached the door when she turned back and shook her head, "I'll just be gone a minute. I'll be right back."

Daniel watched her go with a frown on his face. He turned back to the staging area where Zelena was just slicing into the insanely large birthday cake. It was covered in white frosting but when she slicked through the red velvet crumbs began to show through. He pasted a fake smile on his face and surged forward with the crowd as they all began to line up to give their good wishes and receive their slice of cake.

Regina shivered from the cold that greeted her outside. She ran her hands up and down her arms wishing she'd chosen a better outfit. She'd opted for a strapless purple taffeta gown that pulled in at the waist with a big bow before billowing out and ending at the knees. Her strappy silver heels matched the thin silver tiara that her Father had given her.

She didn't want to be out there. But she knew her sister well. Once the cake was cut, she would immediately start attacking her presents. It would be embarrassing for her only sibling to not have a gift for her.

She hurried over to the car and reached underneath the rear bumper where they kept the spare key. She had just unlocked the door and had leaned into the back of the SUV when she heard a male voice say, "excuse me."

She gasped as she began to turn since she had thought she was alone. But before she could make it all of the way around searing pain began to flood her system. The last thing she remembered was the smell of tobacco and the sight of the car rising up before all was fade to black.

-:-

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine," Emma sang as she pulled the thread through the plastic needle. She was making a bejeweled bangle bracelet. At 14, she knew she was too old for such a thing. It did help pass the time though.

She twisted the bracelet around, examining her handiwork before she stared down at the jewels and accessories that lie before her as she pictured the completed bracelet in her mind's eye. She fought back a yawn before resuming, "You make me happy when skies are gray."

"You'll never know dear, how much I love you - ," she gasped and jumped as a nasally voice shouted through the intercom system, "Into the closet!"

She bolted upright immediately and made her way into the old slatted doored closet. She closed the sliding doors sat on the pallet laid out on the floor inside before curling her legs underneath her as she waited for further instructions.

She heard the lock click into place remotely trapping her inside. Then there was some sort of shuffling noise outside the door. The electronic keypad beeped as the code was punched in. She held her breath as the door opened and the shuffling began to move closer toward her.

The shuffling continued right past where she sat. Through the slats, she was able to make out a flash of purple being drug across the floor. Her heart sped up and she wet her lips nervously as it continued right past her.

She heard a thump as something was thrown onto the double sized bed that took up a large portion of the room. Her position in the closet thankfully didn't allow her to see that angle of the room.

She heard more shuffling that sounded like fabric sliding against fabric. There was a lot of heavy breathing. Sickness pooled in her belly as she heard the squelching of mouth connecting with skin. She laid her head back against the wood and stretched her legs out in front of her. She put her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut as she hummed quietly to help block out the noises.

After some time had passed, heavy footsteps made their way back across the room before the door was slammed shut. Then the lock that held the closet doors shut was remotely triggered again. The door popped open slightly.

Emma took a deep breath and slowly pushed open the door. She unfurled her body and stepped out. Her bottom jaw dropped as she stared at the bed.

There was someone with dark hair lying there. If Emma didn't know any better she would've thought that the girl was merely sleeping. The purple that Emma had seen from inside the wardrobe was now crumpled beside it on the floor. It looked like one of those big dresses she'd seen on Barbie dolls. The girl was practically bare save for the tiny scrap of fabric that was meant to be underwear which were now hanging around one of the girl's ankles.

As she moved closer she could make out that the girl had medium length dark hair. It was spread out around her covering her entire face. But she did see a silver tiara lying lopsided atop her head. It matched the silver heels that were half off the girl's feet.

She lowered her eyes trying to preserve the girl's modesty with her cheeks stained red. Instead of trying to fix what little clothing was left on her body, she opted for pulling the bedspread up and over the girl.

Emma jumped as the dumbwaiter behind her thumped to the ground. She grabbed her chest and heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that there was no threat headed her way. A groan from the girl had her attention instantly reverted back to her.

As she stirred, Emma waited with bated breath. When the girl resettled, Emma turned back toward the dumbwaiter. She walked over to it and began to unload the supplies.

There were a lot of boxes that were going to have to be unpacked and gone through but she wasn't fooled. Now that there were two of them rationing was going to be of the utmost priority. What seemed like a lot now wouldn't be by the end of the month.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine," she sang as she unloaded the boxes and began to put the supplies away. "You make me happy when skies are gray."


	2. Rude Awakenings

****TW: Allusion to rape and violence.****

CHAPTER 2

Emma instinctively covered her head from the blows that were raining down on her but otherwise put up no other defense. This unfortunately wasn't the first time she'd ever been woken up this way. Her mind was only starting to catch up to what the hell was going on when her body suddenly became airborne.

"Ow!" she cried out from the floor in pain and confusion. She blinked repeatedly as she tried to get her bearings.

"Who the hell are you?!"

There was enough daylight coming through the overhead skylight for Emma to make out what even to her sleep filled eyes was clearly the most beautiful girl she'd ever seen.

The large brown eyes were widened in terror. And her hair was a mess about her head. Still, Emma was stupefied as she laid on the floor staring up at her.

After a minute of the two just staring at one another, Emma realized she must look like a slackjawed fool. She snapped her mouth close with a loud click and cleared her throat, "Hi," she said weakly as she sat up and folded her legs underneath her. She wanted the girl to understand that she was no threat to her.

The girl glared at her but Emma could see that she was still scared. Her breathing was coming out in rapid puffs as she clutched the blanket that she had thrown over her the night before tight in her fingers. The knuckles on her hands were turning white.

Regina's chest rose and fell sharply as the terror clawing its way from her chest began to take hold of her. The last thing she remembered was watching the car rise up before her eyes. But that had been nighttime.

Now there was daylight streaming in from a skylight which meant a fair amount of time had passed. She could see her dress folded across a chair on the other side of the room. But why was she lying naked in what looked like a basement? And why was there a blonde girl lying beside her? She had never shared a bed in her life. Except for the odd times her sister had allowed her into hers after a bad night. But she had no idea who this girl was or where or how she'd ended up here, "Who are you?" she demanded to know.

Emma stared at the girl confused. It had been so long since she'd talked with anyone other than – Him. She was completely out of practice on how to interact with people, "I'm Emma."

Oddly that did little to nothing to help squash the panic rising inside of her. She could feel herself heading fast toward utter hysteria. Regina frantically looked around the room, "where am I? What did you do to me?"

Emma looked startled at the suggestion that she could have anything to do with the girl's present circumstances. She shook her head slowly, "Me? I didn't do anything to you."

Regina licked her parched lips trying her best to moisten her dry throat. Now that she was calming down from her shock her mind was starting to let her in on her physical predicament.

She was so thirsty she felt like she could down an entire gallon of water in one long swig. Her head was thumping so hard she knew a migraine wasn't far off. She was sore from head to toe. In fact, she felt like she'd been hit by a truck.

She had no idea what was going on. But she did know that she was getting the hell out of here. "Turn around," she ordered.

The blonde immediately complied. She continued to sit on her heels as she faced the wall in front of her. She started to hum her favorite tune quietly to herself.

Regina watched her for a second to ensure that she continued to comply. Then she leapt from the bed and gathered her clothes. She threw them on quickly while she continued to watch the back of the girl's head. Once she was redressed in her party dress and heels she turned back toward the girl, "how do I get out of here?"

Emma stopped humming and slowly turned toward the girl with a frown. She understood that she must've woken with one helluva shock. But it still confused her as to why she would think that she had anything to do with her situation. "How am I supposed to know that? You think I'd be here if I did know?"

Regina narrowed her eyes at her as she tried to assess whether the girl was lying or not. Try as she might, even through the fog that was still clouding her brain, she sensed no deception in the girl.

Looking away from her, she began to turn in a slow circle to evaluate the room. She first went to the door. It was overly large and it almost looked like the vault door to a bank. It was made of stainless steel and looked to be extremely heavy. It had some kind of a drop down panel next to it. When she pried the panel open, there was a keypad inside. She turned to the girl, "where is the code for this door?"

Emma grimaced, "He has it."

"He who?" Regina demanded.

"Him. The Him who brought you down here," she chewed on her lower lip for a second. "And me too," she added in a whisper.

Regina understood what the girl was saying but she had to be wrong. This was completely wrong. She couldn't have been – even thinking the world made her sick and she had to gulp down the bile that was busy trying to force its way up the back of her throat - kidnapped. That was just insane.

People being kidnapped was something you saw in movies. It was stories your parents told you so that you wouldn't take candy or rides from strangers. And she knew about stranger danger. She'd taken self-defense classes at the rec center. This – it just couldn't be real.

Her mind continued to fight the obvious. But her body was on its own track of coping with the situation. The air suddenly became thinner as her heart began to speed up. Her breath came out faster as she tried desperately to calm down. _'Okay, Regina,' she said to herself. 'You have to focus. The only way to win is to stay focused.'_

Emma's head tilted to the side as she watched the girl. She wasn't sure if she was going to vomit, pass out, fight, go nuts, or all of the above. She understood she was in shock. Even though it had been more than a year since she'd been trapped here she still had a hard time when she woke up adjusting to this being her new reality. She decided to just sit quietly and wait.

Regina, meanwhile, was officially in freak-out mode. The only information she had was that she had been taken down to someone's basement and was now trapped inside. There was a girl here who – honestly to her anyway – looked as if she hadn't seen the sun in years.

'Oh God,' she choked on a sob that had managed to make its way up through her tightened throat while her blinking increased as tears began to dot her lashes. She didn't want to think about that. She couldn't think about that. She had to get home. She couldn't be here. That thought alone of being trapped here was enough to send her panic into near hysteria.

She closed her eyes and started to take deep controlled breaths to force herself to calm down. She knew she needed to keep her cool here. Curling up in a ball and screaming just wasn't an option for her here.

Once her heart rate became manageable again and her tears were pushed back, she knew she could continue. She squared her shoulders and opened her eyes again. She turned back toward the door and went back to trying to figure a way out.

There was what looked like a trap door cut out of the middle of it but it appeared to only be able to be opened from the outside. She tried pushing, then pulling then kicking at it. It wouldn't budge at all.

Emma's legs were starting to hurt from kneeling on the basement floor. Although it was carpeted, there was nothing but pure concrete underneath. She slowly stood up as she continued to watch the girl.

Regina looked behind her to where Emma had risen before turning back to the door. When everything that she could think of to pry it open failed she began to beat along the walls screaming for help the entire way. She slowly made her way through every inch of the room but her kicking, screaming, hitting, and pushing was all to no avail.

By the time she was done testing every inch of the room she was beginning to lose her steam. Her voice had failed somewhere before she'd hit the third wall and she could no longer scream out. Still, she refused to give up. She took some time to turn a fixated stare at the skylight above them. It was at least 10 feet above the bed but she refused to let that deter her. She grabbed at whatever was handy and began throwing it to try and break the glass.

Emma watched the girl and admired her fortitude. She didn't have the heart to tell the girl that there was no use. She'd spent everyday for the past 487 days trying to find her way out of here. She'd even used the same tactics the first few times. Still, here she was.

She still held onto her fantasy of getting out though. She knew one day eventually she would. She just hoped she was still alive when it happened. Her shoulders and other joints still acting up when the weather was bad were constant reminders of what He could do when He was angry.

Her stomach grumbled and she clutched at it then smiled shyly at the brunette whose head had turned abruptly upon hearing it. She decided to attend to it. She walked over to the metal stand that held some of their groceries where she began to put together some cinnamon toast for both of them. She poured them two glasses of crangrape juice while she waited for the bread to pop up.

Over the past year, she'd been able to turn the dungeon into something resembling a home. Since she'd never really had one of her own, she imagined it was as close as one could get to the real thing.

They were basically in a finished basement studio apartment. Everything in it had been brand new when she'd been placed in there. It seemed He'd created the place just to keep someone enslaved indefinitely inside of it.

She didn't remember coming down here. Her last memory of being in the free world was of her enjoying her freedom. She had snuck out of the latest children's center she had been forced into and was enjoying herself a walk of freedom before she'd be dragged kicking and screaming back to the place. Or maybe even somewhere worse when she'd been caught. But in the meantime, she was just enjoying the feel of the cool air against her skin. And the fact that there was no one above her yelling at her what she should or shouldn't be doing.

The next thing she knew a painful shock began to flood throughout her system. She remembered the entire world going lopsided before everything went black. The next thing she knew she had woken up here the same as this new girl.

There had been the handful of times that He'd allowed her upstairs to clean for Him. But He'd stand guard over her the entire time. Once she was done cleaning His house for Him from top to bottom, He'd immediately dragged her back down into the basement again. But in those brief moments before being forced into her prison, she'd at least get to feel some sunshine and cool air across her skin.

The apartment wasn't too bad. Had it not been a prison that she paid for with pain, blood, bruises, and her body, she would've actually even had enjoyed it. There was a small kitchenette which held a toaster oven, a small stovetop and oven, a small refrigerator, and two sinks. There was a small portable dishwasher and a dish drain beside the sinks.

Along the wall there was a thin metal rack where she kept utensils, cookware, and nonperishable foodstuff. There was a small 4 seater table that separated it from the living room.

The living room area had a large screen tv, a ps4, xbox one, wii u, roku, blu ray player, and tons of games and movies. He didn't seem to care what movies she bought through the roku so she loaded up on them just to screw him over.

She had a tablet but there was no way to connect to the wifi on it. He would sometimes take it upstairs and download more books onto it for her. Other than that, it was basically used for nothing except playing games that didn't require internet service.

There was an upright piano against the living room wall. And a guitar. He'd asked her to play for Him but she didn't know how. He'd looked like He was going to beat her and she'd braced herself to take it before relenting. Finally He'd brought her books on learning both instruments but she completely ignored them. There was no reason for her to learn to appease Him anymore than He was able to force her to.

There was an old laptop that she fancied herself doing schoolwork on. She had never been one for school but she had always loved learning new things. She had divided up her studies as if she was conducting her own school. She had her math, science, history, and geography classes. Which meant she read books on each subject. She also had PE classes which included her running around the apartment as fast as she could for track and teaching herself how to do the acrobatics and gymnastics she saw on tv. She was proud that she had almost gotten a front aerial down.

The bathroom held a shower and a large tub. There was even a whirlpool bathtub in it. She preferred showers though. The things He'd made her do inside that tub still made her cringe.

Across from the bathroom was a queen sized bed. It was covered in red silk sheets and a silk comforter set. The mattress was comfortable and there were a lot of fluffy pillows on it.

To the right of the bed was the closet. It's where she spent a lot of her time. There were clothes and linens inside. And just above the bed, was skylight.

The skylight wasn't really a skylight. It seemed to be a tiny window that she wasn't sure a mouse could fit through that allowed daylight to pass through the room. For the past year and a third it had been her closest ally. It allowed her to see enough of the outside world to know remind herself that there was still hope out there.

Somewhere in the midst of her musings as she poured the cinnamon and sugar onto the toast she'd begun to sing her little ditty. "You are my sunshine.., my only sunshine. You make me hap-py when skies are gray. You'll never know dear.., how much I love you."

"Why the hell are you singing?" a voice screamed out.

She turned to find the brunette staring at her as if she had 2 heads. She'd almost forgotten she wasn't alone anymore. Her cheeks heated up as she lifted a shoulder in a half shrug, "I don't know. Force of habit I guess. It makes things a little less lonely."

Regina looked the girl up and down with mild distaste written across her features, "Emma was it?" The girl gave a slight nod before Regna continued. She walked over to one of the chairs and curled her fingers over the top as she eyed the girl carefully, "My name is Regina Mills. My Father is Judge Mills and my Mother is Mayor of our town. If you help me get back home to them, I'm sure there'd be a huge reward in it for you."

Emma let out a deep sigh before shaking her head at the girl, "I don't know how many times I have to tell you that we're in the same boat," she pointed to the wall behind her where she'd added a mark for every day she'd been held captive. "If I knew how the hell to get out of here I sure as hell wouldn't be making cinnamon toast and singing a tune to help me not want to kill myself today."

Regina turned to where the girl pointed and her eyes widened as she took in the wall covered in tick marks. She lifted her hands and ran her fingers gingerly along the indentations before turning back to the girl, "You've been here this long?"

Emma didn't bother to answer her. She didn't want to think about it at all. Instead she put the toast on two plates and brought them over to the table. She brought the glasses of juice over and set one to the side of each plate. Then she sat heavily in a chair and began to eat her breakfast, "breakfast is getting cold."

The last thing Regina wanted was food. She only needed to get out of that place. And fast. The panic that had been lodged in her chest from the moment she woke up was starting to take ahold of her. She used every ounce of willpower she had to fight it back.

She walked over to the table on shaky legs. She fell into a chair merely because her legs were moments from giving out on her. She sat staring at the plate of food while her stomach churned.

Emma was a little worried as she took in the girl. She'd gone pale and she looked unsteady even sitting up on the chair. "Are you going to barf? Cause I'd really rather not see that. Especially while I'm eating."

The girl's chest had begun to heave. "My parents will come for me," she began to chant. "My parents will come."

Emma nodded still unsure of what to say. At least the girl had parents. Maybe they even cared about her, "Sure girlie. I'm sure they're looking for you right now."

Regina nodded. The sight of the unshed tears in her eyes nearly broke Emma's heart.

"They will," she insisted as the tears she couldn't hold back any longer began to make their way down her cheeks. "My parents will find me. They will come for me."

Emma was so startled she dropped her toast. She sat across from the girl with her head bowed as the girl dropped her head into her hands and cried to herself.

Growing up in foster care wasn't exactly conducive in teaching you how to form relationships. She had never really had a close friend. Or any friend for that matter. But something about this girl touched something deep inside of her.

She wasn't sure if she'd accept contact from her. She herself had only known hands as being used as weapons against her. She had no memories of ever being touched by real kindness before in her life. But the girl's obvious pain and despair wouldn't allow her to do nothing.

She took a deep breath and rose to retrieve a napkin for the girl. She sat in the seat next to her as she reached out her hand and handed it to her. She exhaled when the girl accepted the napkin and wiped at her eyes and nose.

"Oh God," Regina cried out as she threw her head back. "How are we going to get out of this hellhole?"

"We'll figure it out," Emma nodded. "Together." It was a promise she swore to herself that she would keep.

-:-

"Into the closet," a voice boomed out of nowhere.

Emma's body went into auto mode and she was halfway on her way to the closet before her mind caught up. She stopped and turned and looked at Regina who was eyeing her oddly. Her stomach began to roil as she stared into the confused brown orbs. She looked up toward the door, "No."

"INTO THE CLOSET!" it boomed louder this time.

Emma shook her head but stood her ground, "no." Her heart was pounding in her chest so loud she could hear it. She could taste bile rising up at the base of her throat.

The trap door in the center of the door opened. She tried to dodge it but she still felt the stab of pain as the dart entered her torso. Her vision became blurry and the next thing she knew the ground was rising up toward her. Then it was fade to black.

-:-

The first thing Emma noticed upon wakening was that her head hurt and her throat was parched. She felt like she could drink 20 gallons of water in one sitting and it still wouldn't be enough to quench her thirst. From far away she heard what sounded like wailing but she wasn't sure if they were hers or someone else's.

She cracked one eye a little and closed it quickly as even the small amount of light that the bedside lamp cast was too much. She tested her limbs one by one. When she was sure that she was still intact, she sat up with a loud groan.

After giving her eyes time to adjust, she slowly reopened them. What she saw made her wish she hadn't. Regina was curled up into a ball at the side of the bed that was against the wall. She had the sheets held tight across her body and was crying so hard Emma was a little worried she was on the brink of hysteria and would choke on her tears.

One look at the bloody sheets, torn clothes, bruises, and shattered look from the brunette beauty was all it took for her to know that she had failed to protect her new friend. She blinked tears away as she rose from the floor and headed to the bathroom, "I'll run you a bath."


End file.
